This was my first time visiting Tulane University but I almost went there for college! It is very close to New Orleans ‘ French Quarter and the students seem to have a good work/life balance of studying hard and having fun. In fact, they even get Mardi Gras week off!
We left just as Mardi Gras was getting started. The sophomore Tulane student who gave us the tour said this would be her first time; last year’s Mari Gras was shut down due to Covid. There is a tree on campus where students put beads to commemorate their first Mardi Gras. At first, it was a real tree but the weight of the beads killed it. An architecture professor designed a tree-like structure that is now strewn with beads. I hope she has a fun first Mardi Gras.
I also learned from our tour guide:
– 5 schools: architecture, business, liberal arts, public health and tropical medicine, and science and engineering.
– you don’t have to apply to any of these schools and it’s easy to transfer in and out of any of these schools
– school of architecture has four and five-year programs.
– 40% Greek life but it doesn’t dominate
– students get Mardi Gras vacation
– volunteer work is required as a student here but it’s easy to fit in
– volunteer work is important to show on a college application to Tulane
– You must fill out “Why Tulane?” Essay
– there are other five year programs where you can get a Master’s Degree for almost free
– there is an honors program at Tulane
– Essentially one dining hall; the second dining hall is for athletes
– Many interesting clubs including fostering an assistant puppy for 1.5 years
– Ultimate frisbee very popular extracurricular
– Division 1 sports but Tulane is not good at football or basketball.
– In 2014 only 6% of undergraduates were BIPOC. New Admissions Director was hired. Next year’s incoming class will be 40% ethnically diverse
– average student has traveled 1000 miles to attend Tulane
– everyone seems to double major
– classes mostly in person during Covid lockdown in 2020. Tulane was founded to combat the yellow fever outbreak in 1834.
We mostly went to visit Tulane University for the food but I’m glad we got a chance to see the school. How about you? Have you been to New Orleans for Mardi Gras? It’s too crazy for us!
p.s. Related posts:
Making the Most of Your Child’s College Visits
Visiting Olin College of Engineering
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A topic I know a lot about! Wish I had realized you would be here. A couple of corrections to your guide’s knowledge.
She’s right that there are 5 schools a traditional undergraduate can major in. But overall, Tulane has 10 schools and colleges.
Students foster dogs to train them as service dogs.
Classes were fully remote in the spring of 2020 (after lockdown). In the fall of 2020 they were hybrid. Tulane has been almost fully in person since fall of 2021. We’ve been recognized for our extensive COVID testing and quarantine program. At the height of the pandemic, undergraduate students were tested 3 times per week, I think, and faculty and staff were also regularly tested.
And finally, if you think Mardi Gras is too crazy, you probably have only seen the media versions of it. It’s crazy on Bourbon Street, but Mardi Gras is very and surprisingly family friendly and is celebrated far beyond the French Quarter. The Carnival season begins on January 6th, but the 2 weeks leading up to Mardi Gras is when the majority of parades are scheduled. On Mardi Gras Day, whole families dress up in costume. Most people have traditions about the different parades they attend, where they catch the parade, what foods they bring, what they wear, etc. There are dog parades, house floats (people decorate their houses like Mardi Gras floats), science fiction parades, a parade in honor of St. Joan of Arc, a street car event (the Phunny Phorty Phellows)…I could go on and on. Lots of people participate in Mardi Gras by being part of a walking or dancing group like the Pussyfooters, the Amelia Earhawts, the 610 Stompers, the Baby Dolls, the Mardi Gras Indian tribes, and many, many more. There’s a whole lot of music affiliated with Mardi Gras, too. Oh, and most companies in the area give workers Mardi Gras Day and the day before (Lundi Gras) off.